Lucy Letby inquiry must expose every single manager guilty of these unforgiveable blunders
Lethal failures
TWO scarcely fathomable questions remain over the monstrous serial killer Lucy Letby: Why did she do it — and why didn’t the hospital stop her?
The answer to the first, in the absence of any other explanation, must be that she is simply and purely evil, as she indeed admitted.
She must never taste freedom again.
And on Monday she should be dragged into the dock to hear her fate.
It is appalling that the law allows any criminal, let alone the callous murderer of seven newborn infants, to dodge it.
The second question, over the catastrophic and deadly failure by NHS managers, is almost more bewildering.
The lead consultant in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit, Dr Stephen Brearey, raised the alarm early on after an unusual spate of deaths.
Letby was on duty for all five.
Senior managers shrugged it off.
When the doctor later made specific claims about Letby, he was ignored.
After two more babies died he directly advised a duty executive to remove Letby from duty.
That boss refused.
Another tot nearly died the next day.
Letby was on shift for every suspicious death or health collapse.
They stopped when she was finally moved . . . incredibly, to the “patient safety” office.
Even this wasn’t enough to trigger further action.
Managers had a potential serial killer in their midst.
But they demanded consultants apologise to her.
Given the evidence, and the lives at stake, why would so many penpushers back this nurse over the frantic medics?
Surely only because their sole, cynical concern was their hospital’s image — and the inevitable scandal if they did the right thing and called the police.
A full inquiry must expose every single manager guilty of these unforgiveable and sickening blunders . . . and they must pay the price for them.
All those children, and the families torn apart by extreme wickedness and jaw-dropping negligence, deserve that at least.
Wad a racket
IT is even more scandalously absurd now to pay France to police its own beaches.
Nearly half a billion pounds of public money has been handed over and the small boats keep coming.
The French don’t care.
And the migrants get buy-one-get-one-free crossings in case the first IS unlucky enough to fail.
Only a serious deterrent will ever work.
Ask the Aussies.
History girls
WE’RE not ones for exaggeration.
But our Lionesses conquering Spain tomorrow will be up there with Queen Elizabeth I routing the Armada in 1588.
The Spanish have done well.
But lo siento, chicas, el fútbol vuelve a casa.
(Sorry, girls, football’s coming home.)
Come on England!